Only 1 in 5 Ready for Challenge of Academics
The College Board (SAT) is expecting a decline in average scores as well. If true, this outcome will be particularly hard to accept as the SAT has been “centered” since 1995, meaning that it takes less right answers to get a high score.
For conclusions we have: (1) testing is meaningless if we believe students do well in college even with poor test results or (2) too many students are going to college with no chance for educational success. In the first instance, many colleges and universities are no longer requiring ACT or SAT as part of the admissions process. This serves both sides well as colleges no longer worry about “lowering standards” and students can save the time and effort of taking tests.
In the second instance, testing is thought to predict how prepared students are for college. Those who perform poorly are not necessarily excluded but required to take an extra level of freshman classes to catch up with their higher scoring peers.
The answer may be in holding colleges more accountable for the outcomes of student graduation and preparedness for the work world. Admissions people see a plethora of high school students and their families and can predict who might be successful. Coupled with high school coursework/transcripts and admissions requirements such as essays and teacher recommendations, predicting success by these experts will be more accurate than testing. But, since quotas are necessary, it is unlikely that these screeners will accurately deny admissions to all those who should be kept out.
As long as parents believe the myth that higher education means higher pay, students will be forced into college. By 2010, the US Census will be reporting that 60 percent or more of high school students fail to finish more than 3 years and that the average wage for professionals is lower than the average in the 2000 census.
The higher the annual income of parents, the more likely it is for children K-8 to be involved with art. Nearly 30 percent of children in households that earn over $75K per year participate in art activities after school (at least once a month (2005)). If the income was $15K or less, the rate of participation was less than 6 percent. Even at $50K per year, less than 14 percent participate.
So, if you want your child to be like the rich kids, provide the opportunity for art. (Source: Department of Education)
If you believe graduate school is the answer for higher wages and opportunities, it won’t come cheap! Over 60 percent of all grad students have at least $37K in debt. As you would expect, medical students have the steepest debt at $114K (95 percent of all med students have significant debt). For a PhD, expect to have about $37K in debt. (Source; FinAid.com)
The national average temperature in July 2006 was 77.2 degrees. That was hot but not the record for July; that was set in 1936 at 77.5 degrees. (The monthly national average for July is 74.3 degrees.)
The 10 hottest months on record all occurred in July. And, even though there has been much recent discussion about global warming, the top 10 records for July occurred over the last 125 years: 1936, 2006, 1934, 1901, 2002, 1980, 1931, 1954, 1998 and 2003.
It would seem that people living from 1930 to 1936 would have been concerned about global warming is such a theory mattered in that era. In fact, the earth has been warming slowly for the past 300 years.
Still, there should be growing concern about the Earth’s accelerated heating as the warmest 7 months ever recorded (since 1895) has been the stretch from January to July 2006. Also, heat stroke kills more people every year than hurricanes or tornadoes. Especially vulnerable are the elderly and the very young. Considering the graying of
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